


The Sunrise Over the Mountains

by GaHoolianGirl



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, I'm a hoe for using a sunset/sunrise as a background and plot point in cheesy fics, Married Couple, Post-Canon, Reminiscing, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Gestures, Sunrises, This is just me meeting all your cheesy Claude/Byleth needs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 07:13:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20372779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaHoolianGirl/pseuds/GaHoolianGirl
Summary: "It was here I fell in love with Fodlán. Where I came to think maybe it was somewhere I could go to be free of...well, you know. I didn’t find the peace I was searching for when I crossed the border. I kept it in my heart that this was the most beautiful part of Fodlán, however. Tranquil and vast, like an inviting painting full of potential and life and second chances. And I haven’t given up on any of that yet.”“But now, in my eyes..."





	The Sunrise Over the Mountains

**Author's Note:**

> So I think it's clear that after my my last two fics with about Felix/Byleth an d Dorothea/Byleth that I ship Byleth with a lot of peoeple. It's not my fault that the whole damn cast is so lovable.
> 
> Also, I named Claude's wyvern Mustafa, since at the advice of a friend it's both Turkish and the name of an FE character (a sympathetic boss from Awakening).

Claude was an early riser, Byleth had always known this. He was always a man with something to do (even if back in his school days that something was lazing around), and to best accomplish those tasks he was early to rise early to bed. But today, he had gently shaken his wife awake while the moon was high in the sky, when it could barely be qualified as morning.

Groaning, she turned to look at him through one cracked eye, “What is it?”

He smiled, ever pleasant, “Come on, there's something I want to show you.”

“Why can’t it wait until it the sun is up?” she grumbled, rolling over to look away from him. Grinning, he grabbed the edge of the blanket and tossed it off the side of the bed with flourish, exposing them both to the chill of a very very early dawn. “Claude!” she cried, glaring daggers at him. This only made him laugh fondly, as Byleth was still a woman of few expressions, so he cherished every one, even when it meant she was cross with him. After a few unkind words were sent his way, she agreed to get dressed and go see whatever blasted thing he was on about, if only so she could get back to bed.

* * *

What she had to see was apparently a two hour ride on the back of Claude’s wyvern, Mustafa, through a dark and misty sky. Though she was still put out at being awoken so early, she always did love soaring with Claude, far above the rest of the world where it was just the two of them, peaceful and quiet, with no other noise besides the rush of air and Mustafas steady wing beats. Below them, she could just make out a familiar mountain range...

“Claude, are we going to Fodlán?”

“Not quite,” he answered, voice cryptically calm. Before, he seemed so eager for her to see whatever it was he had planned, but now he seemed to be determined to ensure she found out nothing about it. He had some scheme planned, she knew it.

“I’ll trust that it must be something important,” she finally conceded with a sigh, gripping his waist even tighter and pressing her head against his back. He laughed, a sound sweeter than tinkling bells to her ears, “I appreciate it, my love. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t pull you from slumber like that without good reason.”

They filled the next half hour or so of the journey with companionable silence and idle chatter in equal measure, totally comfortable in each other’s company. And then finally, finally, Mustafa started to descend, aiming for a broad flat cliff, which pointed in the direction of the distantly visible Fodlán’s Locket.

“This is directly on the border,” she commented as she alighted from Mustafa, giving the old wyvern a firm pat as she did so, “Why are we here, Claude?”

“You’ll see,” was the only reply he gave as he as himself hopped off, before moving to unload the packs hanging over the side of the saddle. He tossed his wife a rolled blanket to unfurl while he revealed a wicker basket with various breakfast treats (sweet rolls, dried fruits and meats, and a bittersweet cider they both enjoyed). They laid out their small picnic and once again just enjoyed the presence of the other for awhile, exchanging pleasant conversation along with the occasional sweet nothings punctuated with a kiss.

This cycle was interrupted by Claude shouting, “Ah, there it is!” at the steadily rising sun. The sky started to slowly fill with a soft orange hue like a watercolor on paper, bringing what was once dark into a gentle light. So he wished for her to see this brilliant sunrise with him? 

Perhaps he could be forgiven after all.

“When I was a child, sometimes my father would take me up here on his wyvern to see the sunrise, on nights when I couldn’t sleep. Not often, mind you, he was quite the busy man, but nevertheless, I remember the times he did quite vividly,” he rested his head on her shoulder, and rubbed small circles into her arm with his thumb, “He would tell me about battles had at Fodlán’s locket, and other small bits and pieces about my mother’s homeland. It was here I fell in love with Fodlán. Where I came to think maybe it was somewhere I could go to be free of...well, you know.”

“That wasn’t true,” she stated matter of factly, as she always did.

He sighed, “Yeah. I didn’t find the peace I was searching for when I crossed the border. I kept it in my heart that this was the most beautiful part of Fodlán, however. Tranquil and vast, like an inviting painting full of potential and life and second chances. And I haven’t given up on any of that yet.”

Claude sat up to look his wife in the eye, rising setting a fitting background to his determined expression, “But now, in my eyes, the most beautiful part of Fodlán is _ you. _ You’re everything I wished, hoped, dreamed Fodlán was, when I was just a young boy looking out at these mountains. You have limitless potential, warm kindness, and you refuse to judge those who haven’t given you any reason to. You’re...” he smiled, reaching down to grasp her calloused, experienced hands, “You’re more wonderful than any sunrise or ideal.”

“Claude,” Byleth’s voice wavered slightly with emotion, something only he could get out of her, and she gripped his hand back as tightly as she could, “I don’t know what to say...”

“It’s alright, I know that’s a lot to spring on you right after waking you up,” his expression turned mischievous, like he had cooked up a scheme, “If you’d like, you could nap before we head back, I wouldn’t mind. Here,” he adjusted himself so his legs were crossed, and he pat his thigh, “You can even rest your head in my lap.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

"‘Really’ what? I’m just generously offering you my body as a pillow. A gracious gift from a man to his wife.”

Huffing fondly, she slid down to accept his offer, nestling her head in the soft fabric of his pants, “Well, luckily for you I am not the person to turn down such a kind offer.”

“Luckily indeed,” his voice tinged heavily with emotion as he ran his fingers through her hair. When Byleth’s breathing settled into that of someone asleep, Claude looked up at the now nearly half risen sun, then down at his wife, and knew in his heart which was the brighter of the two.•

**Author's Note:**

> Let mw know what you guys thought! I just...had to write SOMETHING about Claude before I went crazy lmao.


End file.
